AFLSP Scholar Chen Hua (Martin) is a theoretical physics major at Kyoto University where he researches quantum gravity. As a scientist who often finds it difficult to initiate conversations, Martin found that the way he spent his summer—socializing with different scholars during the BXAI Summer Program—very different from how he would normally spend it. Nonetheless, he was able to find a great sense of community at Bai Xian.
“I think a good community isn’t about whether or not you’re very social,” Martin said. “It’s about [whether] you can really talk about something important in that community [without being afraid].”
Martin considers the interactions he had with fellow Scholars the most meaningful part of the program.
“Every day we would have lunch and talk together and have quite a deep discussion,” Martin said, saying how such experiences helped broaden his worldview. For instance, he remarked the way in which the media portrayed certain nationalities turned out to be quite different from what he experienced first-hand.